NEW YORK, Jan. 27 - Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, February 10, at First Union Center in Philadelphia.

Nelson

Nelson earned the earned the honor to coach the Western Conference All-Stars as a result of the Los Angeles Lakers (29-12, .707) 93-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier today. With that loss, the Mavericks (32-12, .727) clinched the best possible winning percentage in the Western Conference.

Head coaches for the East and West All-Star teams are determined based on their teams having the best winning percentage in their respective conferences through games played Sunday, January 27. Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown and Sacramento Kings head coach Rick Adelman are not eligible to coach in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game because they coached in last year’s game.

This marks the second NBA All-Star coaching appearance in 24 seasons for Nelson, who previously coached the Western Conference All-Stars in 1992 when he was in Golden State. The three-time IBM NBA Coach of the Year (1983, 85, 92), Nelson joined Dallas for the 1997-98 season and last season coached them into the NBA playoffs for the first time since 1994.

Byron Scott of the New Jersey Nets will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars as he has guided the Nets to an Eastern Conference-best 29-14 (.674) record in 2001-02.

All-Star starters for both the Eastern and Western Conference were announced on Saturday, January 26 and the All-Star Reserves will be announced on Tuesday, January 29.

The 2002 NBA All-Star Game will be broadcast in over 200 countries around the world and also on NBC, CTV in Canada, ESPN RADIO and audio in several languages on NBA.com (http://www.nba.com) on Sunday, February 10 at 5 p.m. EST.